Vegan Sapasui (Tofu & Broccolini Chop Suey)

At first when I was challenged to feature Samoan food I was a bit unsure if I would find enough recipes to feature. I wasn't sure until I read about Sapasui. Yep, it doesn't look very Samoan. Infact what is it is "Chop Suey". You might think I'm clutching at straws by featuring this as a Samoan dish, but I have been told that chop suey is so popular in Samoa that it is now considered something of a traditional dish.

Most websites will tell you that chop suey is prominent in Samoa because of Chinese influences, but this confused me because I'd always thought that chop suey was an American Chinese dish. I can tell you that I lived in China for a year, and they don't eat chop suey there! I never saw chop suey anywhere I travelled in China or even in South East Asia. The only time I've ever seen it on the menu is when I was travelling in Sri Lanka - they often had it in the 'foreign foods' section of the menu along with the spaghetti bolognese. 

So I was confused as to why chop suey made it's way into Samoan culture, and then I read about the American influence in Samoa. Infact, one of the islands that makes up Samoa is called "American Samoa". So, it'd like to dispel some internet misinformation and let you know that chop suey is not a Chinese dish! It's an American Chinese dish, and, apparently - a Samoan staple!

However it got to Samoa, it was nice to find it because it made a bit of a change from the coconut everything I was making for every other dish. Traditionally chop suey is made with minced pork or beef and a variety of vegetables with noodles. In the place of mined meat, I've used a delicious "minced" tofu - which came out strikingly similar to the real thing and was a big success. 

One more quick note before I get to the tasty point - recipes vary as to whether or not you should chop up the noodles into shorter lengths before cooking. Some day do it, some say definitely don't do it! I didn't chop mine up, because I like long noodles, but then I cooked them for a minute or two too long and they broke up a bit anyway. So I guess it is all means to the same end!

Ingredients

Tofu 'Mince'

400g hard tofu

1 tsp vegan beef stock powder (such as Massel)

1/4 cup hot water

2 tbsp soy sauce

Sapasui
150g mung bean vermicelli (sometimes also called cellophane or glass noodles)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2cm piece of ginger, grated
1 celery stick, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 Chinese cabbage, sliced
1 bunch broccolini, cut into 2cm lengths
1/2 cup vegan beef stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp ketcap manis

To Make
1. Crumble the tofu into a bowl. Stir the stock powder into the 1/4 cup hot water and add the soy sauce. Stir this through the crumbled tofu and set aside to absorb the flavour.
2. Remove the noodles from the packet and soak in cold water (for about 10-15 minutes, while you get the rest of the dish together).
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok. Add the onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté until the onion is cooked.
4. Add the marinated crumbled tofu and any remaining liquid in the bowl. Cook until any liquid is dissolved, at least 5 minutes.
5. Add all the vegetables and the beef stock, soy sauce and ketcap manis. Simmer until the vegetables are just tender and the liquid has reduced to about half.
6. Drain the noodles that you've been soaking in cold water and chuck them in the wok. Stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes until the noodles are cooked and hopefully by this stage you shouldn't have too much liquid left in the wok. I recommend serving immediately - if you leave it hot in the wok the noodles will overcook and break up a lot (not that this matters very much!).

In other news, I've been nominated in the Australian Writers' Centre People's Choice Award in the Best Blogs 2013 competition! Unfortunately it is very much a contest in social media popularity - so I really need your help!

To vote hit this button to the right and then click the "vote here" button. Then scroll through the 5 pages of nominated blogs, Gormandize is on the second page. You 'll need to scroll through all the pages and then fill out your details at the end to make your vote count. Thank you for your support! 

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food from Samoa.

Check out my other recipe posts:

Paifala (Pineapple Turnovers)

Creamy Coconut Rice (Alaisa Fa'apopo)

Coconut Bread Rolls

Koko Rice

Sweet Potato in Creamy Coconut Sauce

Lemon and Orange Vegetables

You'd probably be surprised to hear that this recipe is part of my Scottish recipes for May! It might not surprise you, however, to hear that it is quite difficult to find vegan savoury recipes from Scotland! So when I found citrus vegetables it was a relief to find a delicious and simple vegetable recipe from Scotland!

It looks so simple, but actually it's a very lovely way to present and eat vegetables. Tying the carrots up in little bundles with chives is a great touch, but is fiddly so if you're just cooking for yourself then you may want to skip it. However, it is a cute way to present and portion vegies if you're feeding a family or a group of guests. The inspiration for this comes from "Rainbows and Wellies" The Taigh Na Mara Cookbook, which is full of traditional and modern Scottish recipes. I've modified it and added a very un-Scottish touch to it (I couldn't help myself!).

Ingredients
4 carrots
1 orange
Chives
2 bunches broccoli
1 lemon
2 tsp sesame oil
Cracked pepper
Salt to taste

To Make
1. Slice the carrots into equal lengths (and do your best to make them all the same width). Place in a saucepan and zest a bit of the orange zest into the pan as well (about 1/2 tsp).
2. Juice the orange and add to the pan as well with enough water to just cover the carrots. Simmer, covered, until the carrots are just tender.
3. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the carrots and leave the orange juice in the pan. Grab about 5-6 pieces of carrot and tie it into a little bundle (you'll break a few chives doing this but practice makes perfect and you'll develop a good technique).
4. Cut the broccoli into florets and steam until just tender.
5. Bring the orange juice back to a simmer and add the juice of the lemon and the sesame oil.
6. Mix the broccoli and carrot bunches together in a bowl (or serve separately on a plate if you like). Pour the hot orange and lemon juice over the top and mix through. Add cracked pepper and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 as a side.

I'm featuring lots of recipes from the United Kingdom,

Check out my other recipe posts here:

Vegan Cauliflower Cheese

Summer Pudding

Mushroom & Guinness Pie

Treacle Tart

Vegan Bakewell Tart

Roasted Love Apple and Wine Soup

Cranachan (Whiskey Cream with Raspberries and Oats)

Scottish Vegan Oat Scones

Swede & Parsnip Mini Cottage Pies

Marinated Tofu, Broad Bean and Broccoli Salad with Tahini Dressing

There is nothing quite like a good salad and a glass of wine out on the deck in warm weather. This salad is the perfect mix of 'light and refreshing" and "surprisingly filling", and isn't that just what you need in summer? The real beauty of this salad though is that the marinade doubles as the base for the dressing because you're not using meat - so nothing goes to waste!

In this salad I added something a bit special which I call 'mature snow peas' - which means that I left the snow peas on the plants in my garden until they became big fat pea pods and ate the peas. I realise you'll only be able to do this if you have a vegie garden (and if you do then you should try it because they are lovely sweet peas!), if you don't then you can either add plain fresh garden peas or just leave that bit out.

Ingredients

300g hard tofu

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 red chilli

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 cup shelled fresh broad beans (has to be fresh for this one!!)

1 thing of broccoli, cut into florets 

2 tbsp sunflower seeds

1/4 spanish onion, sliced thinly

1 cucumber, diced

2 vine ripened tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 tbsp capers (drained)

1/3 cup fresh peas (see note above)

Baby spinach (plenty)

2 tbsp olive oil, for frying

1 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1/2 lemon

To Make

1. Drain the hard tofu and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Cut into chunks about 2cm by 1cm and put in a flattish bowl. Add the soy sauce, crushed garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Roughly chop the chilli and add that too (including seeds). Mix well. Marinate for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally to evenly spread the marinade. 

2. Preheat the oven or grill to 150 degrees C. Toast the sunflower seeds until lightly browned, this will only take a few minutes so keep your eve on them the whole time! Put aside and turn off the oven.

3. Steam the broad beans and broccoli until just cooked (but not overcooked!) then remove from the heat and allow to cool in a strainer (I recommend doing this step while your oven is preheating). When they are cool enough to touch peel the outer skins off the broad beans (they should have gone all wrinkly during steaming so all you have to do is cut the outer skin open and squeeze them out). 

4. In a large bowl combine the baby spinach, spanish onion, chopped cucumber, sunflower seeds, capers, cold steamed vegies and tomatoes. Mix to combine.

5. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a fry pan. Scoop the tofu out of the marinade (and keep it!) and fry until crispy and golden - you will have to turn them over with tongs a few times to make sure they are crispy on all sides.

6. Now, take that marinade (that you didn't throw away!) and add 1 tbsp tahini and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Mix very well to combine. (Hint: if you are down the bottom of your tahini jar and the tahini is a bit dry then you should add some oil to the jar and mix well to make it nice and liquidy again before adding to the dressing - otherwise you will get big lumps of tahini in your dressing which is not ideal). 

7. Divide the salad you have mixed evenly between 3 bowls and drizzle 1/3 of the dressing over each bowl. Add the still warm fried tofu and eat it immediately! (Preferably out on the deck with a glass of wine).

Serves 3 (or two people with slightly bigger serves)

Spicy Rice with Pumpkin, Broccoli and Fresh Peas

The chilli in this might not be to the taste of everyone but if you like things milder just add less or no chilli and you'll find it is still very delicious.

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced finely

2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed

1.5 litres vegetable stock

250g pumpkin, cut into small cubes

3 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp ground Peri Peri (or if you don't have Peri Peri substitute Cayenne Pepper or chilli powder)

1 thing (someone tell me what the measure word for broccoli is??) broccoli, cut into florets

2 cups basmati rice, uncooked

1 tin diced tomatoes

1 cup fresh peas

1 tbsp soy sauce

To Make:

1. Heat a drizzle of oil or 2-3 tbsp water in a wok or large non-stick saucepan (I say nonstick because rice is VERY prone to stick to the bottom and if you don't use nonstick I predict you will be going at your saucepan with some serious steel wool at the end of this cooking process). Add the onion and garlic and sauté til transparent. 

2. Add 2 cups of the vegie stock and the pumpkin and simmer until the pumpkin is soft, about 15 minutes (you may need to cover it). 

3. Then add the rest of the stock, the spices, the tinned tomatoes, the broccoli and the rice. Stir well and bring to a simmer.

4. Simmer, mixing VERY often until the rice has absorbed all the liquid, probably about 15 mins again. At this point test the rice to see if it is cooked. If not, add a couple of more cups of water and simmer again until all the liquid is absorbed. Keep doing this until the rice is cooked.

5. About 5 minutes before the rice is finished cooking add the fresh peas.

6. Once you have got the rice cooked to the right consistency turn off the heat a stir through the soy sauce. Serve immediately (if you leave it for a while you'll end up with a large rice cake stuck in your saucepan, however, if you do this then just add another half a cup of hot stock just before serving and mix well to loosen it up a bit.).

Serves 4 easily.